Warning: This chapter gets a little dark at the end, things are implied nothing happens.
XXXXXX
'The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, either due to being disconnected or out of the service area, please hang up and try again.'
With a frustrated cry Karri slammed her phone onto the coffee table and threaded her fingers through her hair. Resting her head in her palm as she blinked away the newest wave of tears threatening to fall. She had been calling Marley's phone near constantly for the past two hours, she knew it was pointless, but she had to do something. She couldn't just sit and wait, not after the conversation she had, not after what the detectives told her.
She had been on her way to bed after picking up some random toys the twins had scattered throughout the house. The knock at her front door had her pausing, wondering who was there at nearly two in the morning. Walking to the door and setting the basket of toys down she looked out the peephole, and her brow drew down in confusion at the man and woman.
"Who is it?"
"Gotham PD."
"Prove it, show me a badge." The woman pulled something from her hip and held it up seeing the badge, Karri opened the door, keeping the chain lock latched.
"Yes?" She asked, peering out the gap of the front door.
"I'm detective Renee Montoya and this is my partner Harvey Bullock." The woman waved at the man behind her. " Are you Karri Masters?"
"I am, what's this about?"
"Do you know a Marlene Dupree?"
Karri shut the door, undoing the chain lock and opened her door fully. "What about Marley, is she okay? What happened?"
"Do you mind if we go inside, it might be better if you're seated for this conversation." The detective's words made Karri's stomach flutter in worry.
"Ye-yeah come in." Stepping back she let them enter before shutting the door and leading them to her living room.
As they sat down Karri looked at Montoya then her eyes shifted to her partner who was scanning her living room. Before he looked back at her, chewing on a toothpick.
"Miss. Masters, we regret to inform you that Miss. Dupree was abducted from her apartment, earlier tonight." Montoya's words were followed by a long pause.
"No, I just saw her, I dropped her off a few hours ago, she watched the twins for me."
"I know this is hard, but we need to know if you can think of anyone who would want to take or harm Miss. Dupree." Montoya asked.
"No, no Marley's a sweetheart, she doesn't like to cause problems she's always trying to help people she cares about." Karri went on and paused.
"How long you two know each other for?" She looked over to Bullock.
"Almost two years."
"An' she ain't never ruffled no one's feathers?"
"Marley's a homebody, she's not really a… people person, meeting new people makes her anxious."
"No one ever take offense to her not liking um'?" Bullock questioned.
"Not that I can think of."
"Disgruntled customer, mad ex boyfriend, stalker, anything?"
Karri thought. "I know she moved to Gotham with her ex who broke up with her but it was a mutual thing, but a while back she got attacked by a man. She was on her way home and he chased her, roughed her up pretty good before she got away from him and she said that Red Hood saved her."
"The newest vigilante rat to crawl into Gotham, great."
"He saved her so I don't care what he is." Karri snapped.
"Can you think of anything that would be able to help us find her?" Montoya asked.
"No, like I said Marley's pretty easy going." Karri paused and realization hit her. "Oh my God, do you think it's the same people who have been taking women from all over?"
"It's one of our running theories."
Karri felt the tears and the tightening at the back of her throat. "I should have called her when I got home, or texted her, done something."
"This isn't your fault Miss. Masters." Montoya told her patting her knee.
"Marley, oh God, my kids are going to be devastated." The realization that she would have to tell Layla and Declan about what happened, had the held back sob break forward.
"We're doing everything in our power to find the missing women, we've joined forces with the departments in Metropolis, Central city and Star city and we've also been in contact with the department in Washington." Montoya told Karri as she pushed her hand to her mouth trying to quiet her sobbing, she didn't want the twins to wake up.
"Are you going to talk to anyone else?" Karri choked out.
"We were going to go to her place of employment and speak to her coworkers." Montoya sat trying to comfort Karri.
Finally she walked the detectives to the door, Bullock stopped and dug into a pocket on the inside of his coat.
"If you think of anythin' give us a call." He told her holding out a business card, she took it with a shaking hand.
Shutting and locking the door Karri broke down, pressing her hands to her face and sobbing as she sunk to the floor. She sat on the floor for what felt like hours as she tried to collect herself enough to think. Finally she stood, wiping her face with the back of her hand she hurried down the hall, grabbing her landline off the dock. She dialed Marley's number, pacing, she pressed the phone to her ear. Only for the operator to fill the silence. Hanging up she tried again, and again, and again each failure building the panic settling in her chest. Gripping the phone in her hand Karri sank down onto her recliner, eyes focused on the floor.
Karri remembered the first time she had met Marley, she had stopped by a small bakery to grab some muffins. Standing behind a small brunette holding a newspaper, the smaller woman had sighed, complaining about how hard it was to find a job in Gotham. Karri had given a small laugh at the girls huffed words, before she'd looked over her shoulder, giving an embarrassed grin. Remembering that Curtis had just fired the bartender for stealing Karri mentioned it to the girl, who's brow pulled down before asking where. With a hesitant laugh Karri had shown the girl her shirt, the brunette had glanced at the newspaper in her hands then sighed. On the way to the Poodle, Karri had learned the brunette's name was Marley and that she had just moved and would take any job. Curtis was over the moon when they had walked in and Marley had asked about the job, Marley had taken the job and started right then. Marley as Karri learned the first few weeks was a soft spoken woman, she was kind, didn't like to argue. She had won over the whole club, the other girls adored her and she returned the adoration, she also loved kids. Marley became the 'go to' for babysitting, she would agree easily and the kids loved her, she would let them bake with her and she'd play any game they wanted.
The first time Declan and Layla had met Marley they called her their aunt and Marley had just laughed and accepted it. Karri never needed to worry about a babysitter after that if her mom couldn't watch the twins she could always count on Marley. When she had found out about Stephen, Marley had hated him, she'd told Karri that she didn't need someone like that in her life. That her and the twins were better off without him, and that he'd lost the best things in the world, being in the twins' lives. Marley had turned out to be a bright spot in Karri's and the twins lives, Marley became like a little sister to her. She was someone that Karri went to for advice or for conformation on things Karri was thinking. Her attitude and bright personality were Marley's defining traits, Karri had believed the woman didn't have a dark spot in her life.
Karri had panicked the first time Marley had showed signs of her having depression, Marley had been all smiles and giggles. But the gestures didn't reach her eyes, they were hollow. Marley had gone home early and Karri had worried until she finally told Curtis that she was leaving. Still in her maid outfit Karri had taken a cab to Marley's apartment, thoughts of her father flitting through her mind. Reaching the door she'd pounded on the wood waiting, Marley had opened the door, her eyes glassy, and tried to give a fake smile. It was a look she remembered being on her father's face often, Karri had yanked the other woman into a crushing hug. Crying into her hair, that she could always call her, that she and the twins cared and loved her. She'd called her mother letting her know that she wouldn't be home, that she was going to stay with Marley. They had spent the night with Karri talking about nothing, nonsense really, anything to keep Marley's mind off her thoughts. The next day they had gone out and Marley had adopted Jasper, he was a scrawny little kitten, all sharp angles and long whiskers. Marley had scooped him from the cage, cooing at him like he was the most precious thing she's ever seen, she still treated him like that.
Marley was Karri's rock, of course she still had her mother but Marley filled a different spot that her mother couldn't. The younger girl was able to sympathize with Karri better than her mother, she was more understanding. In the same vain Karri was also Marley's rock, she was her emotional buoy, so to speak. Marley let her emotions rule her sometimes, especially if her feelings had been hurt. Karri more than once had to smooth over misunderstandings due to Marley's sensitivity with the girls at the club. The twins loved everything about Marley, that she baked cookies with them, and helped with homework. Played games, went to the park with them, and let them stay the night. Marley was without a doubt the twins aunt, blood relation or not at the thought of the twins Karri pushed off the couch and made her way upstairs. Slow, quiet steps led her to the twins bedroom door, pushing the cracked door open she looked at the twins. Layla was curled up hugging a stuffed horse to her, she lovingly named Hoofs. Declan was splayed out on his back blanket kicked off on the floor, mouth hanging open. Stepping into the room, Karri picked the blanket up and covered him back up, standing between her babies Karri felt the tears bubble up again. Swift steps led her back to the hall and she pulled the door closed, walking back downstairs she sat back down on the recliner.
Karri didn't know how she would tell them about Marley, how she would inevitably break their hearts with the news. She did know, she wouldn't be getting any sleep for the night, grabbing the phone off the table where she had left it and she dialed the same number.
'The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, either due to being disconnected or out of the service area, please hang up and try again.'
XXXXXX
Her mouth was dry. Like cotton or sand had been packed into her mouth and down her throat, it was the first lucid thought she had. Followed by the fact that her cheek was pressed into a leather seat, and her left leg was throbbing from the knee down. Laying on her side Marley tried to focus her mind, where was she? What happened? After a few confused moments everything started to come back, slowly seeping into her brain. The men in masks who had broken her door, drugged her and abducted her, her breathing picked up, panic clawing at her mind. She cracked an eye open and saw she was in a car, the backseat of a car, twisting her head slightly. The window above her showed very little of where she was, all she could see was metal I-beam rafters. The far off sound of voices choked off her rapid breathing, and she tried to play off still being unconscious. Eyes snapped closed, trying to keep the muscles in her face slack, the voices got closer, she heard an accent. It was thick and sounded almost Australian the door clicked and opened by her feet.
"This the lil' sheila what busted ya nose?"
"Yeah, put up more of a fight than we were told she would." That was one of the men, her abductors.
"Should be waking up by now, go grab her out."
"Okay." A hand wrapped around her right ankle.
Adrenaline and fear filled her body. At the touch Marley's eyes snapped open and she pulled her leg from him as she twisted to her back. Drawing her bare foot back, she saw the man's face his nose discolored and the beginning of a black eye, smirking her foot snapped out. Her kick was a little off; she felt the heel of her foot land on his chin the rest of her foot landing solidly on the left side of his face. The man's head snapped back, banging into the top of the door frame with a solid sound, the satisfaction that filled her didn't last long. The man's hand wrapped around her foot still on his face, thick fingers digging in grinding the bones of her ankle. With a quick, solid yank Marley was pulled across the backseat of the car before gravity took over. Her back scraping across the running board the back of her head smacked into it before she hit the concrete ground. Yelping as her injured leg hit the ground, the man who had pulled her out stood over her, hand holding his face. The man who was most likely Australian was laughing as the man holding his face turned towards him.
"What a feisty lil' sheila." He crowed before looking at the man she kicked. "Go fix ya face, fuckwit."
The man shot a glare at Marley before stalking off, leaving her with the Aussie who looked down at her. Eyes stopping at her knee, he closed the distance before crouching down.
"Don't go kicking me, now. I'll cut it off." The grin on his face stopped her from lashing out as she wanted. "Ah, lookit here, done damaged the goods." His hand brushed over her knees and she hissed out. "S'gonna drop the price ya get, mate."
"Why, I didn't damage it!" The voice had Marley's heart drop to the pit of her gut, she'd been too focused on the other men that she hadn't looked around.
"Can't sell broken goods full price, so ya pay gets cut."
"By how much?" Marley was looking at him now trying to think of why? How this could even be happening right now.
"Not sure, I'll go ask bossman."
"I'll stay here." He looked down a smirk crossing his face as he walked over crouching down next to her.
His hand rested gently on her knee, barely touching her looking back at her face he smiled. "You put up a good fight, huh?"
Marley's mouth opened and a distressed noise fell from her lips as she still tried to process what was going on.
"I see you're shocked, I know I couldn't believe I was doing it either." His thumb rubbed the side of her knee.
She scanned his face, a face she knew well, brown eyes, square jaw, short brown hair, a man she'd known for almost two years. Finally she got her mouth and brian to work in tandem, her question soft. "Marcus, why?"
He blinked nearly owlishly at her words. "Why else, but for the money."
She felt the tears gathering as he went on.
"Oh, I really did like you Marley, you were one of the first ones they wanted. I kept them away from you, told them that I wanted you. But then, then you started dating that muscle bound idiot." His fingers tightened on her knee and she cried out, her hands gripping Marcus' wrist.
"So they couldn't get you because of him, finally he left you, dropped you like a bad habit, so I tried to help, pick you up, make you see I could take care of you. But you denied me, swept aside my love like I was nothing." He shifted on his feet, leaning onto his toes.
"I was your friend." He let out a bark of laughter.
"That's the problem, I didn't want to be your friend, I wanted to be your everything, you didn't listen to the others. So, if I can't have you then I can at least get something from you."
"Marcus, please don't do this." Her voice hitched on a sob.
"You had your chance, Marley. You didn't take it, but if it makes you feel better I made them give me double for you."
"Why?" It was all she could get out. Why would that make her feel better? Why would he do this to her? To anyone? Who was he!?
"Because I loved you and you denied me, Marley. Now, now you're going to pay the price for that betrayal."
"You're crazy." His fingers dug deep into her knee, thumb and forefingers digging into the joint, she screamed at the pain that shot through her.
"I'm not crazy!" Marcus snarled, leaning forward his weight pushing her leg down, straightening it out, adding more mind numbing pain. "Thirty thousand is a lot of money, and I'll have more once they get her."
Marcus ground his palm down causing Marley to scream again her vision swimming from the pain, suddenly the pressure was gone. She was shifted around then fingers dug into her hair, voices sounded, then the fingers were gone, she was roughly picked up. Her leg dropping down changing the angle of her knee, she cried out again before she was swallowed by darkness.
XXXXXX
"... on't know."
"...cussion?"
"Wake… oon… die?"
"...oving."
Marley groaned, her leg was throbbing and the back of her head hurt, she was laying on something hard, on her back. Opening her eyes her vision was blurry but she saw there was a bare hanging bulb, swinging slowly above her. Reaching up she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands, fighting back the urge to cry again. The shuffle of something caused her to jerk and fight to sit up, to get away. The movement jostled her knee and she cried out, falling back to the hard surface, soft hands were on her face.
"Shush, calm down child, S'okay." A woman cooed softly petting her cheek.
"She's awake?" asked a soft, wavering voice.
"Ay, she is." The woman petting her answered before looking back down at her. "We won't harm ya, my name's Darline."
Marley finally calmed enough and looked the woman in the face, large brown eyes surrounded by long lashes looked back at her. The woman- Darline's skin was the shade of milk chocolate and her hair was in thick braided rows. Her smile was kind and sad as she looked down at her, finally another girl stepped into her field of view. She was tiny and blond; a single silver hoop was in her left nostril, her blue eyes red and puffy. Marley sighed out a shuddering breath.
"I'm Marley."
"Lo' Ma'lee, I checked ya knee, think it's been dislocated." Marley looked at Darline, who had stopped petting her cheek.
"Really?"
"Mmm, can't tell fo' sure without a X-ray but from the swellin' and discoloration I'm sure it is."
Marley let out a bitter laugh. "Don't matter, I guess."
"Now, now child we might get out."
The blond scoffed before she walked out of view, Darline looked after her.
"Would ya like to sit up?" She glanced at her knee. "Might hurt, though."
"I'd like that." Marley told her, she wanted to be up, to be able to see what was going on.
"Okay, ready?" Darline shifted to place her hands under Marley's shoulders and looked down, Marley nodded and Darline helped her sit up, and scoot back, resting her back against the wall.
"Fuck that hurt." She hissed between her teeth, digging her face into her hands.
"I know, can't do much fo' ya." She looked at Darline who gave her a sad smile.
"It's fine, not your fault."
"Can we yank it back into place? Used to help my dad pop his elbow back into the socket." At the new voice Marley saw another woman, half of her head was shaved and she was folded up in a busted rolling chair.
"No, it's dangerous, too many blood vessels and nerves, there might also be something worse wrong with it."
"Oh." The girl quited and looked at the floor.
Looking around Marley saw it was only the four of them, Her, Darline the blond and the girl with the half shave. They were in what looked like an old office, the large window was covered with plywood and the gaps between showed the window was spray painted black. There were a few desks and two more broken rolling chairs the blond girl was occupying one. Marley looked at where she was sitting and saw it was an office desk, she could see the door as it was nearly directly across from where she sat. The room held a chill and she was vaguely aware that her bare legs were cold, she looked back to Darline who'd pulled a chair closer to her and was sitting in it.
"Do you know where we are?" Marley asked, wanting to know how far from Gotham she was.
"Metropolis, I think I came to when they were transporting me, saw that big ugly ass statue in front of the Daily Planet, before they doped me up again." Shaved head said, biting on her thumbnail.
"How long have you been here?"
"What's it matter? We're not on a fucking cruise!" The same girl snapped.
"Tori enough she only askin' questions." Darline sighed. "I been here the longest, 'bout four days."
"Two." Tori ground out.
"Shelby's been here since yesta'day." Darline waved to the small blonde curled up in the corner, her knees pulled to her chest.
"Do… how long will they keep us here?"
"Don't know, we're not kept in the loop." Tori snarled, and Darline sighed again.
"Don't mind her, she just scared."
"I know, me too." Marley answered before falling silent.
Marcus. He'd sold her, she would have never thought he'd be capable of something so horrible. She thought of the newscast she'd seen of people saying the same thing about people who committed awful acts. It was always the same. 'They were so nice, I never would have thought they could do something like that.' The bitter smile slid over her lips before she could stop it, she wondered if Marcus even took care of his mother like he'd told everyone at the club. If he did the volunteer work he said he did, if he helped at the other clubs. At that thought Marley's eyes went wide, was Marcus responsible for the girls disappearing from the Diamond district a few months back? He'd helped at their club, how many women had he sold? Her fingers dug into her shorts at the thought. He'd sold her because she didn't want to date him, because he was jealous of something that wasn't even real.
"Ma'lee." She looked over at Darline. "Where are ya from?" She blinked at the question. "Talkin' makes it less… scary."
"Gotham."
"Really? I'm from Sta' city, I came over on a school schla'ship from Haiti to be a doctor."
"Coast city." Tori added.
"Shelby, how 'bout ya?"
"Here." She pulled her knees tighter to her chest.
"So ya ever see Supa'man?"
"Sometimes, he caught the bullet train once, when it fell off the track."
"'Bout ya, Tori?"
"Seen the Lantern, really? That conceited shit, see him all the time, he kinda makes it hard to miss him." Marley couldn't help the snort that slipped out, she'd heard stories about the Green Lantern and his theatrics.
"Ma'lee?"
She looked at the others, she'd seen all of the bats, hell a few of them broke into her apartment on a nightly basis.
"They kinda stick to the shadows but I've caught glimpses of them on my way home."
"Ahh, I've seen Arrow a few times." They fell into a heavy silence again.
"Do you think they'll find us?" Shelby asked, peeking over her knees arms still wrapped firmly around her legs.
"We can only pray, child." Darline finally answered her.
The quiet filled the room again and Marley wiggled the toes on her right leg trying to keep the blood flow good. Finally she pulled her right leg up hugging it to her, wanting to do the same with the other but not daring. Marley shifted on the desk trying to adjust to a more comfortable position when the door swung open. Darline and Tori both jumped from their chairs and backed towards the wall Shelby buried her face in her knees. The man was tall, broad shoulders and he looked over them, his eyes stopping on Shelby's tiny form, before stalking towards her. Grabbing her upper arm and yanking her to her feet, she cried out clawing at the hand gripping her. Before trying to drag her forwards towards the door, Marley saw Darline move to grab the girl but Tori held her back. Fear, anger and adrenaline bubbled up in Marley's gut as the girl screamed and cried pulling at her trapped arm.
"Get the fuck off of her!" The scream was out before she could fully process what she was doing.
The man stopped eyes latching onto her own before he sneered with a quick move he shoved Shelby away. She tumbled to the floor before she rapidly crawled to Darline who crouched down wrapping her in a tight embrace. The man moved to Marley and she pressed back into the wall as much as she could he stopped next to her. Grinning, his hand landed on her knee and she hissed in pain at the slight pressure.
"You volunteering to take her place?" His fingers brushed the side of her knee and her lip twitched in disgust.
"You're sick." He growled words resulted in her head bashing into the wall when the man's hand wrapped around his throat.
The man leaned forwards, nearly snarling in her ear."So what if I am? You better get used to it, this is your life now."
His hand tightened on her throat and her mind flashed back to the night in the alley and what had happened, but unlike then she couldn't walk let alone run and Jason wasn't around to save her. They wouldn't do what they pleased to her without a fight, she'd die first.
"Over my dead body."
The man pulled back, a sickening grin slipping over his face. "We have a clientele for that venue also." Marley's gut churned at the words at the implications of what he meant.
The hand on her knee tightened and pain bloomed in her leg, her scream was cut off as the hand at her throat tightened. Her cold fingers shot up gripping the arm at her throat, fingernails sinking into flesh, glaring at the man.
"I like breaking the fighters." The purred words sent a cold spike of fear up her spine as her fingers dug in deeper, she hoped she drew blood.
"The fuck you doin'!" Someone snapped.
The man holding her looked over his shoulder. "Was bored, thought I'd… try the product out."
"You know the rules, you want it, you buy it, get out."
The man scoffed. "Fine, wonder how much you cost, Firecracker." The man let go of her throat, his fingers running up her thigh before he stepped away, walking to the door.
The other man waited for him to pass before slamming the door shut. The sound broke the dam on her emotions, Marley's breathing sped up, she buried her face in her hands, her whole body shaking. Tears came, followed by body wracking sobs, she was quickly wrapped in a soft, warm embrace. Whispered words in a language she didn't understand, cooed into her ear as soft hands rubbed her arm. Someone crawled onto the desk on her right and pressed their shoulder to her's, in quiet comfort. Finally the whispered words and embrace calmed her and she sucked in steadying breaths rubbing her nose and looking up.
Darline was looking at her, big brown eyes brimmed with tears still holding her within a loose hug. "Sweet, girl." Her hand came up and wiped a tear away.
Tiny arms wrapped around her ribs. "Thank you, M'sorry." Shelby whimpered into her side.
"S'okay." Marley got out.
"I wanna go home." The little blond cried.
Shifting from Darline's arms Marley pulled the girl closer to her, she was a baby no more than thirteen. She hadn't been able to see the girl's age until she was ripped to her feet, she couldn't let that happen, wouldn't let it if she could stop it. Her hands brushed over Shelby's bare arms and felt how much the girl was shivering, the room had grown colder. Gently prying the girl off, Marley stripped off her sweatshirt leaving her in the blue camisole she used as an undershirt. The cold air had goosebumps rising on her arms and a quick shiver ran through her body, before she dropped the warm shirt on the girls lap.
"Put it on."
"I can't, it's yours."
"You're cold put it on, I'll be fine just sit up here with me." Shelby looked at her before nodding and pulling the sweatshirt on.
Darline and Tori had both moved their chairs to sit in front of the desk Marley and Shelby sat on. Marley had shifted and pulled Shelby closer to her side again, the teens cheek resting on the side of her chest.
"S'pretty."
"Hmm?"
"Your necklace." Marley's hand came up latching around the locket.
"Yeah." The word was soft, barely audible.
After a while Shelby's steady breathing let her know the girl was asleep, carefully Marley shifted unlatching the chain from her neck with cold fingers. Fumbling with the latch on the locket she finally got it open and tipped the locket over dumping the tiny broken piece of paperclip into her palm. Getting the tiny piece of metal in her fingers she crammed it into the pin hole, nothing happened there wasn't a beep or a little light. There was no indication that it had worked, she carefully put the bit of metal back, closed the locket and put it back on. Wrapping her arm back around the girl at her side Marley leaned her head back against the wall.
Jason would come, he'd come and would bring all the fury and destruction of Red Hood with him. He'd burn the place to the ground and would punish the ones who'd taken them. He would come and Marley felt no sympathy for anyone caught in his crosshairs.
None at all.
XXXXXX
So I have no form of self control and I have started to outline a few new stories for when Windows is finished. Soooo, if you want to I have a poll up for the storys and you can pick which one you'd like me to do first. There is a short description of each idea on my main bio page right at the top.